


it's like everything you say is a sweet revelation

by bugabisous (mariafernanda)



Series: this love is a tangled web [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Kwami Swap, Post-Episode: s03 Miracle Queen (The Battle of the Miraculous Part 2), Smitten Kitten, a study in denial, dragon!Adrien, pure mushy feels, snake!marinette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2020-02-19
Packaged: 2021-02-28 05:27:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22798570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mariafernanda/pseuds/bugabisous
Summary: Adrien is lost in the deep ends of trouble. Trouble is called Marinette Dupain-Cheng's eyes.He is, of course, also deep in denial about it.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: this love is a tangled web [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1634344
Comments: 33
Kudos: 270





	it's like everything you say is a sweet revelation

**Author's Note:**

> If you haven't read any of the previous works in the series, I suggest you do in order to gain some context. But it is, of course, your choice.
> 
> I'm back with more of these babies. Which I have decided to call, thanks to Yunyin's input, Superdrienette. This was a piece of self indulgence, but I hope you enjoy it.
> 
> Title is from I really like you by Carly Rae Jempsen.

Adrien was lost in the deep ends of trouble. And trouble was called Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s eyes. You see, he had always known Marinette was cute and funny, and amazing; those were facts, things that shouldn’t be brought into question because they just _were._

But, lately, facts were that Adrien was becoming an absolute mess around her. It was getting so ridiculous that he was sure Nino had started noticing – which was saying a lot because Nino wasn’t observant in matters of the heart. Not that there was anything to be observant about, of _course_ , because Adrien was, in every single way, in love with Ladybug and didn’t have eyes for anyone else. Trying to move on had proven futile and had nearly derailed his friendship with Kagami, and so he _was not_ looking at other girls, no matter how brilliant, stunning, and expressive their blue eyes were.

It was one thing to maybe put his arm around her shoulder while they ate some cupcakes before starting patrol, or to get lost in the way her hair framed her face from beneath the hood. It was one thing to occasionally double back and drop by her balcony as Chat Noir after patrol was over, in order to _“check in on her”_ – because it would be suspicious if he didn’t, of course. And it was one thing to maybe think about holding her hand to see if he could feel the warmth of her skin through both their suits.

It was another thing entirely to feel the itch to turn around every five minutes in class or to want to kiss her cheek when she said hello to him each morning, or to feel as if his heart was about to burst out of his chest that one time she winked at him. It was a whole different thing to want to grab her by the shoulders and tell her they patrolled together every week, or to accidentally drop an inside joke and then freak out for twenty minutes about the possible meanings of the tiny furrowed brow that she gave in return once she had stopped smirking.

Because, for all intents and purposes, Adrien qua Adrien hadn’t grown much closer to Marinette qua Marinette in the preceding weeks, and they shouldn’t be accidentally brushing shoulders when there weren’t supersuits on the way, and he shouldn’t be staring at her when she laughed in any form, _ever_. Because no matter how many times Ladybug said she was in love with another boy, the fact remained that he was in love with her and he couldn’t seem to move on, and he wasn’t about to jeopardize the incredible progress he had made on his friendship with Marinette lately without being absolutely certain that: a) he was able to finally let go of his unrequited love for his partner; and b) she was interested in him as more than a friend, despite her repeated asseverations to the contrary.

So he took that flicker of spark that started in his chest when she looked at him and shoved it to deepest corners of his heart, and he denied – to Plagg and himself – that he ever laid awake at night thinking about how it felt when her lips brushed his cheek during Heroes’ Day, or during patrol a week ago. He looked at her, clad in purple spandex, her hair down, and he did _not_ think about touching the ends of said hair to find out if it was a soft as it looked. He most definitely didn’t look at her lips at any given moment and thought about kissing her.

“Good morning, Adrien,” she said, brushing past him on her way to her seat, her cheeks rosy and eyes shining.

“Good morning,” he replied, digging his hands in his thighs to avoid reaching for her hand, “how was your weekend?”

She smiled, looking down, her blush getting a bit redder, “I met up with a friend, it was very nice.”

“Who’s this mysterious friend?” Alya interrupted, which would have annoyed him a bit if not for the fact that he was very curious about Marinette’s reply.

“You don’t know him,” she said quickly, before cringing at Alya’s delighted expression. “ _No_ , don’t even start, you know I,” she stopped talking abruptly, blush still in place.

“Yeah, girl, I know, but,” she shrugged, “I still have to know who this boy is. For background check purposes, if he ever decided to put the moves on you,” she gave Marinette a stern mock-glare which made her giggle.

“It’s not like that.”

Oh. _Yikes._ So she didn’t like him that way even in his superhero suit. He bit down the disappointment that threatened to choke him and very purposely ignored the voice that told him he should have seized the chance when she confessed to Chat Noir that night months ago in her balcony. Which was ridiculous because he _wasn’t_ hoping to start dating Marinette, not with all the possible ways it could backfire on him.

But then, he heard her tell Alya the words that singlehandedly sent him flying to cloud nine,

“I mean, I like him,” she whispered, so quietly that Adrien only managed to catch it because he had always had excellent hearing and he had trained himself to pick up even the slightest of sounds ever since becoming Chat Noir, “like, I _really_ like him, you know?” she continued, oblivious to the way the blonde boy in front of her was sitting so still that a leaf could have knocked him off his seat, “But he doesn’t see me that way.”

And those were the words that sent him straight to hell. Because there was no way he was going to be able to resist the impulses he had been fighting for weeks now that he knew she liked him. He especially wouldn’t be able to restrain himself knowing that she was out there thinking _he_ didn’t like _her_ , as if he was some kind of blind idiot that was unable to see the amazing girl running around rooftops with him and telling him silly stories and jokingly smashing icing on his cheek before giggling at his outraged expression.

Adrien decided, right there, that he wouldn’t allow Marinette to think he didn’t want her. Not when he did, _so much_. Because he did want to hold her hand, drape his arm around her shoulder, and kiss her cheek and her hand; he wanted to brush her hair off her face before bringing his hand to her cheek and drawing her in for a kiss, he wanted to cuddle with her on top of every roof, and chase her across Paris and laugh with her about the most stupid jokes, and suddenly he wanted to _love_ her so badly that he felt as if he was suffocating.

Sure, there was still Ladybug – who had a hold in his heart so tight that she kept unintentionally crushing it – but, looking at Marinette’s embarrassed smile out of the corner of his eye, he felt like maybe he was finally ready to move on.

**Author's Note:**

> I want to make something clear: There won't be a love square reversal so much as "let's make these two dummies fall in love with each other all over again and freak out because they love two different people at once"
> 
> There won't be no true selves stuff in this, nor will Adrien's feelings for Ladybug vanish (or Marinette's feelings for Adrien). The point of this series is the identity shenanigans, and them falling deeper and deeper in, and never _out_ , of love.


End file.
